For three jockeys, Kentucky Derby is a race for history FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest For three jockeys, Kentucky Derby is a race for history Rosie Napravnik, Kevin Krigger and Gary Stevens are trying to make different kind of history in the Kentucky Derby. Post to Facebook For three jockeys, Kentucky Derby is a race for history Rosie Napravnik, Kevin Krigger and Gary Stevens are trying to make different kind of history in the Kentucky Derby. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 2 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs For three jockeys, Kentucky Derby is a race for history Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY Sports 1:16 p.m. ET May 1, 2013 Rosie Napravnik is trying to become the first woman jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.

(Photo: Bill Luster, USA TODAY Sports) Story Highlights Rosie Napravnik, Kevin Krigger and Gary Stevens add inspirational subplots to Derby Napravnik aims to become first woman jockey to win Kentucky Derby Kevin Krigger sees history all around in his attempt to take the race LOUISVILLE -- Rosie Napravnik started her week with a profile on the TV show 60 Minutes, and now awaits a two-minute race that could make her the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Kevin Krigger can become the first African American to ride a Derby winner since 1902. And after seven years of broadcasting and acting, Hall of Famer Gary Stevens is out of retirement and back in the saddle. The horses, including highly regarded Orb and Verrazano, will do the running in Saturday's 139th Derby. But the jockeys won't just be along for the ride. Their skills and savvy will be put to the test from start to finish over the 11/4-mile course at Churchill Downs. ROAD TO THE DERBY: Latest point standings The riders all have stories.

But this year's mix is enriched by the trailblazing possibilities for Napravnik and Krigger, potential inspiration for others to follow. Stevens, 50, is an inspiration, too, for any aging ex-athlete who has ever wanted to scratch the itch to give it one more shot. Their back stories won't mean a thing once the gate opens. But for Napravnik, Krigger and Stevens, the opportunities will be there to add compelling next chapters. ROSIE NAPRAVNIK Anna Rose Napravnik was listed in the race program as A.R. Napravnik when she started her career as a teenager at Delaware Park in 2005. A trainer suggested that listing so as not to advertise she was female and perhaps diminish her opportunities to get mounts. "He said, 'We can't let anybody know that you're a girl,'" says Napravnik, 25. The secret is out. Napravnik has more than 1,500 career wins. Last year, she became the first female rider to win the Kentucky Oaks, on the Friday before the Derby.

In her only Derby appearance in 2011, Napravnik's ninth-place finish on Pants On Fire was the best result ever by a female jockey in the race. Diane Crump made history in 1969 as the first female jockey in a parimutuel race in North America. In 1993, Julie Krone became the only woman to win a Triple Crown race, capturing the Belmont Stakes. Napravnik salutes them. "I have not gone through nearly what they had to go through. ... They were the pioneers," she says. Her chances of making history in the Derby were diminished in late March when her horse, Shanghai Bobby, suffered a hip injury that took him out of consideration for Saturday's race. Instead, Napravnik will ride Mylute, trained by Tom Amoss. Napravnik has been nothing if not resolute. Consider her history of broken bones. "I started out with my left collarbone, and then I broke my thoracic spine, and then I broke my wrist the first time," she says. "I do feel as though I've been extremely lucky.

Every injury has been a broken bone, and broken bones heal." (Photo: Bill Luster, USA TODAY Sports) KEVIN KRIGGER Kevin Krigger is on a winning team for the Kentucky Derby. The 29-year-old, born on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be riding Goldencents, co-owned by coach Rick Pitino of Louisville's NCAA basketball championship team and trained by Doug O'Neill, who won the Derby last year. African-American jockeys won 15 Derby titles between the first race in 1875 and Jimmy Winkfield's victory in 1902. Racial segregation ensued. No African American has won the Derby since then. The most recent African American to ride in the Derby was Marlon St. Julien, a Louisiana native who placed seventh in 2000. Krigger said Tuesday that his focus was on finishing first. "Well, point blank, winning the Derby is history," he says. "Winning the Derby for my first time is history. Doug O'Neill winning his second consecutive Derby is history. Me being African American (and winning) is history.

Every stipulation that I have going for me is historical, so it's just a part of winning the Derby." Krigger got his riding start at the age of 5 on St. Croix aboard a horse owned by a neighbor. He came to the USA as a teenager, began his career in Ohio and rides on the Southern California circuit, where he steered Goldencents to victory in the Santa Anita Derby on April 6. "I really grew up just wanting to be better than any other jockey," he says. "That is basically what I grew up … putting into myself and instilling into myself." He was mentored by jockey Julio Felix. "I wouldn't say I patterned my riding style after anyone else, but what I would say is Julio Felix helped me learn the fundamentals of riding," Krigger says. Last year, O'Neill won the Derby with jockey Mario Gutierrez, who also was a Derby first-timer. "Physically and mentally, (Krigger is) very consistent," O'Neill says. "He just shows up. He's got a great work ethic.

And more than anything, he's just got a great chemistry with Goldencents." (Photo: Bill Luster, USA TODAY Sports) GARY STEVENS When Gary Stevens announced his retirement in November 2005, he had won eight Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby in 1988, 1995 and 1997. During his seven years of retirement, his broadcast career included Triple Crown coverage for NBC Sports. As an actor, he played jockey George Woolf in the 2003 film Seabiscuit and was a regular on the HBO series Luck. What is he doing back in the starting gate at age 50? "I guess the answer is because I could," Stevens says. "I didn't want to be 70 years old and say, 'Man, I could have come back.' "So I'm enjoying myself. I feel good, and I'm riding good horses." He'll ride Oxbow, trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby winner. "I think mentally and attitude-wise he's better than I've ever seen him," Lukas says of Stevens. "He looks better than I've ever seen him.

I think his knees were bothering him. Maybe his diet was a problem. … But ... I think he's in the zone. I really feel comfortable, and the experience factor, you cannot downplay it in this one with 20 horses especially." Stevens' weight didn't balloon during his retirement, but by jockey standards he had work to do to get back to riding trim, teaming with a personal trainer and dietician. "It was a big issue, and it had been an issue before I retired. I'd really been fighting my weight," Stevens says. "I'm actually lighter right now than I've been probably since I was 20 years old." The oldest Derby-winning jockey was Bill Shoemaker, 54 when he rode Ferdinand in 1986. What would a fourth Derby win mean to Stevens? "I'll just tell you that the first one was sweet. The second one was better than the first one, and the third was the best of all," Stevens says. "So with each one, it gets better.

"I didn't know what it was going to feel like the first one, so it's the greatest feeling on Earth, and I'd love to feel it again." Top Kentucky Derby Winners Top Kentucky Derby Winners Top Kentucky Derby Winners Top Kentucky Derby Winners Winning the Kentucky Derby is the highlight of a jockey's carrer. Only a few have won this famous race more than once. Eddie Arcaro - 5 time Kentucky Derby Winner Eddie Arcaro, nicknamed "The Master", rode in the Kentucky Derby 21 times, his last in 1961, and won with five of them. His Derby winners were: Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Hoop Jr. (1945), Arcaro considered Citation the best of all (1948), Hill Gail (1952). Arcaro is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and his career spanned 30 years, from 1931 to 1961. Eddie Arcaro Hall of Fame Bio Bill Hartack - 5 time Kentucky Derby Winner Bill Hartack got his five Kentucky Derby wins, two in record time, from only 12 tries.

His Derby winners were: Iron Liege (1957), Venetian Way (1960), Decidedly (1962), Northern Dancer (1964), Majestic Prince (1969). Hartack is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1953 to 1974. Bill Hartack Hall of Fame Bio Willie Shoemaker - 4 time Kentucky Derby Winner William Shoemaker rode in the Kentucky Derby 26 times - more times than any other jockey, from 1952 to 1988 he won four times. His Derby winners were: Swaps (1955), *Tomy Lee (1959), Lucky Debonair (1965), Ferdinand (1986). He may be remembered more for his loss in the Derby aboard Gallant Man in 1957, when he misjudged the finish and stood up in the irons too early allowing Bill Hartack and Iron Liege to pass and win the race.

With 18-1 longshot Ferdinand, Shoemaker became the oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby (at age 54) in 1986. His riding career was 41 years, from 1949 to 1990. William Shoemaker Hall of Fame Bio Isaac Murphy - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Isaac Murphy rode in the Kentucky Derby 11 times - from 1877 to 1893, and he was the first jockey to win three times. Many consider Isaac Murphy the greatest American jockey of all time. He was the first jockey to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. His Derby winners were: Buchanan (1884), Riley (1890), Kingman (1891). Murphy is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1876 to 1895. He died of pneumonia at age 34 and is buried at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington next to Man O'War.

Isaac Murphy Hall of Fame Bio Earl Sande - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Earl Sande rode in the Kentucky Derby eight times from 1918 to 1932 and won three times. Sande rode the best horses of his day. His Derby winners were: Zev (1923), Flying Ebony (1925), Gallant Fox (1930). Sande is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1918 to 1953. Earl Sande Hall of Fame Bio Angel Cordero, Jr. - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Angel Cordero Jr. rode in the Kentucky Derby 17 times from 1968 to 1991 and won three times. His Derby winners were: Cannonade (1974), Bold Forbes (1976), Spend a Buck (1985). Cordero is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1960 to 1992. Angel Cordero, Jr.

Hall of Fame Bio Gary Stevens - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Gary Stevens rode in the Kentucky Derby eight times from 1985 to 2005 and won three times. His Derby winners were: Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Silver Charm (1997). Stevens is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1979 to 2005. He is also known for playing the role of jockey George Woolf in the movie "Seabiscuit" in 2003. Gary Stevens Hall of Fame Bio Kent Desormeaux - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Kent Desormeaux has ridden in the Kentucky Derby 15 times from 1988 to 2008. His Derby winners were: Real Quite (1998), Fusaichi Pegasus (2000), and Big Brown (2008). In 1989, he rode 598 winners, a record that still stands.

Kent Desormeaux Hall of Fame Bio Calvin Borel - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Calvin Borel's win in 2010 made him the first jockey to ever win the Derby 3 times in a 4-year span. Calvin Borel's second Kentucky Derby victory of his career in 2009 was on Mine That Bird, an upset win at odds of 50-1; the second biggest upset in Derby history behind Donerail; and was the biggest winning margin of 6-3/4 lengths in Derby history since 1946. The day before that winning run, he rode Rachel Alexandra to a triumph in the Kentucky Oaks and decided to stay with her in the Preakness, where she defeated males, including Mine That Bird, in 2009. In doing so, Borel became the first jockey to win the first two jewels of the Triple Crown on different mounts. Victor Espinoza - 3 time Kentucky Derby Winner Victor Espinoza won the Triple Crown in 2015 riding American Pharoah.

His three Kentucky Derby wins are: 2002 on War Emblem, 2014 on California Chrome, and in 2015 on American Pharoah. In those same years and with the same horses, three times he won the Preakness Stakes. He was the first jockey in history to enter the Belmont Stakes with a third opportunity to win the Triple Crown, finally winning the elusive honor in 2015 on American Pharoah—becoming the oldest jockey and first Hispanic jockey to win the Triple Crown. Willie Shoemaker Biography (Jockey) Died: 12 October 2003 (Natural causes) Birthplace: Fabens, Texas Best known as: Four-time Kentucky Derby winner who later was paralyzed Willie Shoemaker won his first horse race when he was 17. He went on to become the most successful jockey in history, winning the Kentucky Derby four times, the Belmont Stakes five times and the Preakness twice. In 1986, at the age of 54, he became the oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. He retired as a jockey in 1990.

Despite an auto accident in 1991 that left him partially paralyzed, Shoemaker worked as a horse trainer until his retirement in 1997. Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. Kentucky Derby 2012: Four jockeys get first shot at the roses | Daily Racing Form Kentucky Derby 2012: Four jockeys get first shot at the roses Benoit & Associates I'll Have Another will be jockey Mario Gutierrez's first mount in the Kentucky Derby. LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mario Gutierrez watched Animal Kingdom win the Kentucky Derby last year on a television in the jockeys’ room at Hastings Race Course in Vancouver, Canada. Little could he have possibly known that he would be riding in the Derby the following year. “It’s every jockey’s fantasy,” said Gutierrez, who has the mount on I’ll Have Another in the 138th Run for the Roses on Saturday. “It is what you dream about.

I feel very lucky to be here.” Gutierrez, 25, is one of four jockeys who will be riding in the Derby for the first time, although that could become five if My Adonis was to make it off the also-eligibles list as No. 21 with Elvis Trujillo aboard. Gutierrez, one of four brothers who grew up on a small farm in Vera Cruz, Mexico, was a two-time leading rider at Hastings before moving briefly to Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco, then, more recently, to the ultra-tough Southern California circuit. His improbable journey from obscurity to being in the starting gate for the world’s most famous horse race is not unlike those of other first-time Derby jockeys, including the others in this renewal. [KENTUCKY DERBY: Get PPs, watch analysis video, read latest updates] Sheldon Russell, who has the mount on Done Talking, took a circuitous route to Louisville. Russell, 24, was born in Bossier City, La., moved with his parents to South Africa as an infant, then spent his formative years in England before coming to America to work for trainer Michael Dickinson about six years ago.

“I consider myself English because that’s where I had most of my schooling, and those are the early years I remember best,” said Russell, now a leading rider on the Maryland circuit. “We would watch the Derby over there, but not as much as you do here. The race was late at night. When I came to work for Dickinson, I realized it was a really big thing.” [KENTUCKY DERBY FIELD: Watchmaker's odds, video contender profiles] Luis Contreras, rider of Prospective, has become the top jockey at Woodbine near Toronto, having won 211 races there last year, narrowly missing the track record. Contreras, 26, is a native of Mexico City. Last year, he became the first jockey ever to sweep the Canadian Triple Crown on different horses, taking the prestigious Queen’s Plate aboard a filly, Inglorious, before winning the Prince of Wales and Breeders’ Stakes aboard Pender Harbour. Colm O’Donoghue, who will be aboard Daddy Long Legs, has become one of the go-to jockeys for Aidan O’Brien, the iconic Irish trainer whose stable is the most dominant force in European racing.

O’Donoghue, a 31-year-old Irish native, has ridden in the Irish Derby, the Epsom Derby, and the French Derby and will complete a superfecta of sorts with his first ride in the Kentucky version. He is no stranger to big-time American racing, having won the Grade 1 Secretariat last summer at Arlington Park aboard Treasure Beach and the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland last fall on Together. The last first-time jockey to win the Derby was Stewart Elliott (Smarty Jones, 2004), who became the first to do so in 25 years, after Ronnie Franklin (Spectacular Bid, 1979). In all, first-time riders have won the Derby 41 times, although obviously many of those came in the race’s infancy. [KENTUCKY DERBY WORKOUTS: Latest updates, Mike Welsch's video reports] Of the 16 jockeys in this renewal with Derby experience, four have smelled the roses, most notably Kent Desormeaux and Calvin Borel, both of whom have a chance to win for the fourth time.

Desormeaux rides Dullahan, and Borel has the mount on Take Charge Indy. Only Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack (five wins) and Bill Shoemaker (four) won the Derby more than three times. The other prior winners of the race with mounts this year are Mike Smith (Bodemeister) and John Velazquez (Went the Day Well). More than 1 year ago Randy, you were right! Hope you cashed in on that super! RANDY MAYORAL More than 1 year ago Will see if he can get ILL Have Another in position, if he does Gutierrez will be in the Money. I have him my Trifecta and dime. Anonymous More than 1 year ago He's not on my Derby pick, but my sentimental choice is Chilly Willie aboard Trinniberg. A nicer guy you'll never meet, Martinez is just an all-around gentleman and always carries himself in a respectful and professional manner. He almost stole the Derby a couple years back when Noble's Promise surged to the lead in upper stretch only to fade in the late stages.

It's about time a 2nd tier jockey with 1st tier credentials gets his reward...Go Willy!...Don't Look Back!...Just Go!!! chad mc rory More than 1 year ago And do you think Jockey Martinez will soon receive the apology that is owed him by a Mr Andy Beyer? Willie, Namaste'. Vic Bullock More than 1 year ago Toss 'em all, no chansa, what was smart jones 4-1, and they ain't no Bid in here ! Anonymous More than 1 year ago This Super Mario should not be overlooked, won with his horse in S Anita Derby beating Creative Cause and CC not breed to go extra furlong. This is the Cinderella jockey and story. go4gin More than 1 year ago I just want to see all the jockeys and horses cross the finish line safe! Good Luck to all chad mc rory More than 1 year ago Good Luck always to these young riders. Cordero would tell you, "Be a Winner". Sheldon, get down in dere Son. Getchu some shrimp n some crawdad. Might feel like home.

Always remember what Delahoussaye tole us, "Da Cajun Dunnit !!!" Willian J. Brune More than 1 year ago go Luis, go! More than 1 year ago Go Mario Go!! Willie Shoemaker facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Willie Shoemaker COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Willie Shoemaker Horse racing's most famous jockey, Willie Shoemaker (born 1931) was a tiny, gentle rider who set a world record with 8,833 winning races, including 11 victories in Triple Crown races. He raced for more than 40 years and was the oldest rider (at age 54) and one of the youngest (at age 23) to win the Kentucky Derby. Weighing under 100 pounds and standing less than five feet tall, Shoemaker was an unlikely star athlete. Yet he seemed always to coax the best performances out of his horses. For decades, he rode in dozens of races nearly every week of the year. After his retirement, he was critically injured in a car accident and became a spokesman for the rights of disabled persons.

From Small Beginnings Born at his family's rural Texas home in 1931, Billy Lee Shoemaker weighed only one pound, 13 ounces. The doctor attending the birth told his mother the baby wouldn't live. Shoemaker's grandmother put him in a shoebox, turned on the oven, and put the box on the open oven door. The homemade incubator helped the tiny baby defy the odds. Though his father was nearly six foot tall, Shoemaker remained small as he grew into manhood. His father worked in cotton mills and at odd jobs, and the family moved frequently during the Depression years. When the boy was seven, he went to live on his grandfather's ranch and started riding a horse every day to get the mail. Once, he nearly drowned when he fell into a cattle trough. Shoemaker preferred riding horses to going to school, and he often skipped classes. When he was ten, his parents divorced, and he went to California to live with his father and his new wife. At El Monte Union High School, Shoemaker weighed only 80 pounds. He tried out for football and basketball, but the coaches thought he was too little. So he turned to wrestling and boxing.

As a wrestler, he consistently beat boys bigger than him. He never lost a match. A girl at school introduced him to a boy who was a jockey, and Shoemaker started working at a thoroughbred horse ranch. After 11th grade, he quit school so he could work full-time at the ranch, cleaning the stables and learning about horses. Pulled Out in Front The owner of the ranch was president of Hollywood Park, a racing venue. At the ranch, a retired jockey showed Shoemaker how to ride a thoroughbred. The teenager became immersed in all aspects of training and riding horses. Shoemaker started hanging around California racetracks and became an apprentice to trainer George Reeves. Reeves saw Shoemaker's talent and interest and gave Shoemaker his start at riding. Shoemaker was only 17 when he rode his first horse in a race, on March 19, 1949, at Golden Gate Fields. His horse, Waxahachie, finished fifth. In his third race, on April 20, Shoemaker entered the winner's circle for the first time, riding a horse named Shafter V.

Reeves at first took a lot of criticism for letting such a young and inexperienced jockey ride, but Shoemaker won seven races in his second week in the saddle. Even for a jockey, Shoemaker was small: four feet eleven inches and 96 pounds. He did little talking and soon earned the nickname "Silent Shoe." His calm demeanor atop his horses also surprised observers. Most jockeys kicked, whipped and pulled hard on the reins. Shoemaker became known for his "soft hands" and gentle riding techniques. In 1949, even though he had gotten a late start, he won 219 races, second-most in the United States. The following year, he tied the all-time record, set in 1906, by winning 388 races in one season. For much of that year he rode nine races each weekday and 12 others at a different track on Sundays. Throughout his career Shoemaker would hardly pause for breath as he switched horses and rode race after race. Six times in his career he would ride six winners in one day. In 1950 Shoemaker hooked up with Red McDaniel, the winningest trainer in the country.

One day he won four races even though his foot was so swollen from stepping on a stingray at a beach that he had to wear special boots. That year, he raced in New York for the first time and won three races in his first day at the Aqueduct track. He quickly became a national figure. By the time he turned 20, he was the top jockey in the United States and already married to his first wife, Ginny. Sped Past the Competition In 1953, Shoemaker rode in about 1,600 races and set a new single-season record by winning 485 of them. That record would stand for more than 20 years. The next season, he won 380 out of 1,251 races, setting a 20th century record for winning percentage by an American rider. In 1954, Shoemaker began riding horses for breeder-owner Rex Ellsworth, including Swaps. Shoemaker and Swaps upset veteran jockey Eddie Arcaro and his favored horse Nashua in the Kentucky Derby. Later that year, Nashua beat Swaps in a famous match race.

In the 1957 Kentucky Derby, Shoemaker made a rare mental mistake, mistaking a furlong pole for the finish line and standing up in his stirrups before the race was finished. His horse, Gallant Man, ended up losing by a nose to Iron Liege, and Shoemaker was suspended for 15 days, even though his was an innocent error and might not have been decisive. After that, Churchill Downs painted a big bull'seye at the finish line. Shoemaker rode Gallant Man to victory in the Belmont Stakes a few weeks later. Early in 1958, Shoemaker notched his 3,000th win. He again was the year's leading rider, winning 300 races. For the next seven years he would be the sport's biggest money winner. In 1959, Shoemaker again won the Kentucky Derby, riding Tomy Lee, who beat Sword Dancer, the horse Shoemaker had wanted to ride. Shoemaker rode Sword Dancer to fourth place in the Preakness and then to victory in the Belmont Stakes. Shoemaker won 347 races for the year, tops again.

At age 27, he was inducted into the Jockeys' Hall of Fame at the Pimlico track in Florida. In May 1961, Shoemaker, not yet 30, won his 4,000th race—a mark only three other jockeys in horse racing history had achieved. That year, he married his second wife, Babbs. Shoemaker won the Belmont again in 1962, riding Jaipur, and in 1963 won the Preakness for the first time, riding Candy Spots. Early in 1964, Shoemaker surpassed Arcaro's career earnings record with more than $30 million. In October of that year, Shoemaker got his 5,000th win. Overcame Adversity In 1965, Shoemaker won his third Kentucky Derby, riding Lucky Debonair. He was the most famous jockey in the United States, and a well-known sports figure worldwide. In 1967, he won the Belmont and the Preakness on Damascus. Within 13 years ending in 1967, he had won nine Triple Crown races.

In January 1968, Shoemaker's horse went down in a race at Santa Anita. Shoemaker broke his leg when he fell off and was struck by the hind leg of another horse. For a while, Shoemaker didn't believe he would ever race again. But after months of therapy, he returned to race at Santa Anita in February 1969, winning all three races he rode that day. "As it turns out, it's possible that spill prolonged my career because it made me realize how much I loved riding horses," Shoemaker wrote in his autobiography. "You get blasé when you're doing well year after year. Then you have a setback, and you realize you have no business being blasé." Shoemaker's bad luck continued a few months later when he suffered an injury two days before he was to race in the Kentucky Derby. A horse flipped backwards and fell on him, breaking his pelvis, rupturing his bladder and causing other internal injuries as well as nerve damage in his leg. This time, the Shoe was out three months. In 1970, Shoemaker targeted jockey John Longden's all-time win record of 6,032.

He passed 6,000 in August and then battled increasing media attention as he closed in on the mark. On September 7, he broke the record, riding a filly named Dares J. Longden had taken 40 years to compile his record, but Shoemaker had broken it in 22 seasons. And the Shoe was far from finished. By 1975, at the age of 43, he was still one of the top jockeys in the world, winning the Belmont Stakes on Avatar. On March 14, 1976, at Santa Anita, Shoemaker reached another milestone with his 7,000th win. He had teamed up with trainer Charles Wittingham and together they formed one of the most successful partnerships in horse racing history. In 1978, he divorced Babbs and married his third wife, Cindy Barnes, and they had a daughter, Amanda. Refused to Quit Although his pace slowed down as he aged, Shoemaker continued to win big races. In 1981 he became the first jockey to win a one-million-dollar race when he rode John Henry in the first Arlington Million.

Entering the Kentucky Derby in 1986, Shoemaker was considered too old to be a factor. But he won the race on Ferdinand, despite 18-to-1 odds against the horse. When Shoemaker finally decided to retire, a farewell tour was organized. For nine months, crowds came to see Shoe, who raced at 48 tracks, including tracks in England, Sweden and Germany as well as out-of-the-way places in Texas and Oklahoma. His last ride was February 3, 1990, at Santa Anita, and 64,573 spectators turned out, but Shoe-maker's horse finished fourth. In his career, Shoemaker rode 40,350 mounts and won 8,333 races, including 1,009 stakes races and 11 Triple Crown races. His horses earned more than $123 million in purses. In ten different years, he was the top money winner on the racing circuit. Shoemaker often said he didn't place much stock in records and that every record he set would eventually be broken.

In 1999, his career record of 8,333 wins was eclipsed by jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. After his retirement, Shoemaker became a trainer in southern California. His life changed dramatically on April 8, 1991. Driving home from a golf outing, he lost control of his Ford Bronco, which plummeted over a 50-foot embankment. Shoemaker was left paralyzed from the neck down. Arrested on suspicion of drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit, he was never prosecuted, because no other victims were involved in the accident. Though the crash left him a quadriplegic for life, the indomitable Shoemaker refused to give up. Taking up physical therapy for the third time, he resumed horse training in a supervisory role in September 1991, and kept working as a trainer, using a mouth-controlled wheelchair, until he retired in November 1997.

His fans rallied too, contributing to a $2 million endowment of the Shoemaker Foundation, organized by friends, which helped pay for Shoemaker's treatment and support and for other horse trainers, grooms and jockeys who were injured. In 1993, Shoemaker and Ford Motor Company agreed to a $1 million settlement of his claim that poor automotive design had caused the rollover accident. The automaker admitted no culpability. For his part, Shoemaker asked for no sympathy. "You have to play the hand you're dealt," he told writer William Nack of Sports Illustrated, "and I was dealt this one." In 1994, his third wife, Cindy, divorced him. After retiring as a trainer, Shoemaker continued as honorary chairman of the Paralysis Project, an organization dedicated to improving spinal cord research and treatment. "The most important thing," he told an interviewer for Web MD Live, "is don't ever, ever, ever give up." Books ESPN.com: Shoemaker made racing history Shoemaker made racing history By Ron Flatter Special to ESPN.com Without getting on a horse, probably the best way to understand the work of a jockey is to shake his hand.

At 100 pounds, he doesn't look like he could carry a load of groceries, let alone control a beast 15 times his weight. But all jockeys seem to have powerful handshakes. Bill Shoemaker's victory in the 1986 Kentucky Derby aboard Ferdinand was one of the more memorable in a distinguished career. Then there's Bill Shoemaker. His right hand was powerful all right. But there was also something rather gentle about that grip. Sort of horse racing's answer to the rifle-armed quarterback who could throw the touch pass. Or the pool player who could deliver the finesse shot after an explosive break. Racing people frequently refer to Shoemaker's "soft hands," hands that took the reins of a horse and made "Shoe" the boss. Those hands guided 8,833 winners, a world record that would stand until broken by Laffit Pincay, Jr. in 1999. In 42 years, Shoemaker won 11 Triple Crown races, 1,009 stakes races and 10 national money titles.

He earned more than $123 million in purses, about $10 million of which went into his pocket. "It's a puzzlement to me how the guy got runs out of horse after horse after horse after horse," jockey Chris McCarron said. "His smooth, calm style was deceiving." Shoemaker's two most famous races came at the Kentucky Derby. One was in 1957, when he misjudged the finish line with Gallant Man and blew a sure win. The other was aboard Ferdinand in 1986, at age 54, when he became the oldest to win the Run for the Roses. Billie Lee Shoemaker was born Aug. 19, 1931, in the west Texas town of Fabens. He weighed between 29-40 ounces and was 10 1/2 inches long. One apocryphal story has it that Shoemaker's grandmother put him in a shoebox she placed next to an oven to keep him alive that first night. After his parents divorced, Shoemaker and his father moved to Southern California, where he cleaned stables on a thoroughbred ranch.

Only months after going to work as an exercise boy in Northern California, the 4-foot-11, 96-pound "Willie" Shoemaker had his first professional ride, on March 19, 1949. A month later the 17-year-old Shoemaker registered his first win, aboard Shafter V in a six-furlong, $3,000 claiming race at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif. "I almost went into shock," he said years later. "She was a chestnut filly, and you bet I remember her. I think I got about $10." "Shoe" rode 218 more winners before the year was out. In 1953, Shoemaker set the record for most winners (485) in a year -- a mark that held up for 20 years. Shoemaker's first Kentucky Derby victory came aboard Swaps in 1955. Two years later, he should have won his second Derby. Instead, he wound up with the embarrassment of standing up too soon before the wire, mistaking a furlong post for the finish line. Iron Liege charged past Gallant Man for the win.

Although Churchill Downs historians will argue the point, jockey Eddie Arcaro said, "They changed the finish line that year. They lengthened the stretch by a sixteenth (of a mile). After the race they did what they should have done 50 years before. They put lines on the fence to show the finish." From 1958-64, Shoemaker was racing's biggest money-winner among jockeys. Six times, he had six winners in a day. He won the Kentucky Derby with Tomy Lee in 1959 and Lucky Debonair in 1965. He rode Candy Spots (1963) and Damascus (1967) to victory in the Preakness. He won four Belmont Stakes in an 11-year period aboard Gallant Man (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Jaipur (1962) and Damascus and tacked on a fifth in 1975 with Avatar. In 1968, Shoemaker suffered his first serious injury, a broken leg after being thrown from a mount.

Shortly after returning in 1969, he was injured again in a paddock accident that broke his pelvis, ruptured his bladder and caused nerve damage in a leg. Shoemaker bounced back later that year, resuming his quest to become the career leader in riding victories. On Sept. 7, 1970, he won with Dares J. at Del Mar, Cal., for his 6,033rd victory, breaking the record held by Johnny Longden. The wins became fewer over the years. Two especially noteworthy ones came in the 1980s. In 1981, he became the first jockey to win a $1-million race when he guided John Henry to a nose victory over The Bart in the inaugural Arlington Million. Even more significant was the 1986 Kentucky Derby. Shoemaker worked 18-1 shot Ferdinand through the pack deliberately. At the top of the stretch, "Shoe" found enough of a hole to get to the front. That's where he and Ferdinand stayed, winning by 2 1/2 lengths. "What a feeling," he said.

"I was half in shock." But by 1988, that feeling was gone. Shoemaker would hang out in jockeys rooms around Southern California, playing solitaire and waiting for increasingly rare rides. Late that year, he announced he would retire. He decided to exit in a flourish of promotion. New Zealand media entrepreneur Michael Watt organized a nine-month, international farewell tour that took Shoemaker from fabled tracks to the middle of nowhere and back again. Whether it was just a chance to say goodbye or modern sport's version of a traveling medicine show, "Shoe" packed grandstands from Royal Ascot to Mountaineer Park. He reportedly made $1 million in appearance fees -- more than he did with any one season's worth of purses. His last win, aboard Beau Genius, came Jan. 20, 1990, in the Hallandale Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Florida. "The Legend's Last Ride," as it was billed, came Feb. 3, 1990, at Santa Anita. His 40,352nd mount was 7-year-old Patchy Groundfog.

The 64,573 attending made "Shoe" a sentimental 7-10 favorite in the $107,850, one-mile turf race. ZONE POLL Top Kentucky Derby Jockeys Top Kentucky Derby Jockeys By Cindy Pierson Dulay Updated February 15, 2016. The Kentucky Derby is the big prize all owners of 3-year-old thoroughbreds lust after. For a jockey to win this race is the highlight of his career, and only a select few have won this race more than once. Here are those elite jockeys who have won the Kentucky Derby three times or more. Eddie Arcaro. icollector.com 1. Eddie Arcaro Eddie Arcaro rode in the Kentucky Derby 21 times, his last in 1961, and won with five of them. His Derby winners were: Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Hoop Jr. (1945), Citation (1948), Hill Gail (1952).

Arcaro is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and his career spanned 30 years, from 1931 to 1961. He retired with a total of 24,092 mounts and 4,779 wins. continue reading below our video How to Throw a Perfect Spiral in Football Bill Hartack. Terence Dulay 2. Bill Hartack Bill Hartack got his five Kentucky Derby winner from only 12 tries. His Derby winners were: Iron Liege (1957), Venetian Way (1960), Decidedly (1962), Northern Dancer (1964), Majestic Prince (1969). Hartack is a member of the Racing Hall of Fame and rode from 1953 to 1974. He retired with a total of 21,535 mounts and 4,272 wins. 3. Bill Shoemaker Bill Shoemaker rode in the Kentucky Derby more times than any other jockey, 26 in all from 1952 to 1988 and won four times.

His Derby winners were: Swaps (1955), *Tomy Lee (1959), Lucky Debonair (1965), Ferdinand (1986). He may be remembered more for his loss in the Derby aboard Gallant Man in 1957, when he misjudged the finish and stood up in the irons too early. This allowed Bill Hartack and Iron Liege to pass them and win. His riding career was a lengthy 41 years, from 1949 to 1990. He retired with a total of 40,350 mounts and 8,833 wins. 9. Calvin Borel Calvin Borel is another of the great Louisiana Cajun riders and has been a regular on the Kentucky and mid-west circuit for over 25 years. Only recently has he come to light as a top Kentucky Derby jockey, with only 9 rides in it so far, but he is the only jockey to ever win 3 Derbies in a 4 year span and he finished 3rd in the year he didn't win.

Best know for his ebullient celebrations after winning, his first Kentucky Derby win came in 2007 with Street Sense. He next won with huge longshot Mine That Bird in 2009 then came back to win again in 2010 with Super Saver. He still doesn't get as many big rides outside Kentucky, but watch out for him at Churchill Downs, especially if he gets on the rail! Victor Espinoza. Cindy Pierson Dulay 10. Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza proudly flies the Mexican flag and is the newest member of the 3+ Derby winning club and has been a regular rider in California for over two decades. In 2002, he picked up the mount aboard War Emblem when the colt was purchased by Prince Ahmed Salman and transferred to trainer Bob Baffert. He won the Derby and Preakness but due to a poor start in the Belmont, could not complete the Triple Crown. He had to wait until 2014 and California Chrome, again winning the Derby and Preakness but checking in fourth in the Belmont for trainer Art Sherman.

As the regular rider of American Pharoah, again for Baffert, he went into the 2015 Belmont with the Triple Crown on the line, but this time did not disappoint, breaking the 37 year drought. Willie Shoemaker Home · Stage/Screen · Music · Sports · Politics · Military · Literature · Crime · Business · Art · Journalism Ageless Sultan of the Saddle Born 1931 in Fabens, Texas, Willie Shoemaker is he most successful jockey in history. He won his first race at 18. By the time he retired in 1990 he had won 8,833 races, including four Kentucky Derbies, five Belmont Stakes, and three Preakness Stakes. He was the first jockey to win over $100 million. Fifty four years after the 2 1/2-pound pre-maturely born Shoemaker was placed in a shoebox and shoved into an oven to keep him alive, Willie Shoemaker nursed a 171 shot, a colt named Ferdinand, to victory in the 1986 Kentucky Derby. It was one of sport's most memorable achievements.

It would have been a historic feat, no matter who was in the saddle, but, coming as it did from the gifted hands of the world's greatest jockey at such an advanced athletic age, the feat took on miracle proportions. The sports world was awed and delighted. The victory put a crown of gold on a 41year career that saw the pintsized Texan ride more horses, win more races, capture more stake purses and earn more prize money than any jockey who ever lived. Before retiring in 1990, Shoemaker rode 8,833 winners, 1,009 of them in stakes races and 250 with purses of $100,000 or more. He also won 10 national money titles and over $123 million in purses. Shoemaker considered Eddie Arcaro his toughest rival and envied his two sweeps of horse racing's Triple Crown events the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes with Whirlaway and Citation, the only prize to escape him. "He was terrific," Shoemaker said of Arcaro. "I think he beat me more than I beat him." They had some great duels.

Shoemaker needed no excuses for his own record in Triple Crown events. He won the Kentucky Derby four times, with Swaps, Tomy Lee, Lucky Debonair and Ferdinand; two Preakness Stakes, with Candy Spots and Damascus; and five Belmont Stakes, with Gallant Man, Sword Dancer, Jaipur, Damascus and Avatar. Then there was his notorious blunder in the 1957 Derby when, seemingly cruising to victory aboard Gallant Man, he mistook the sixteenth pole for the finish line, stood up in the stirrups and allowed Iron Liege to win by a nose. "An error like that would have destroyed most men," Arcaro said. "Only a guy like Willie could have survived it. He's a tough sonofagun." That toughness was tested from the day of his birth and throughout a career that saw him labeled at first "too small to be a jockey," suffer two life threatening accidents during the late 1960s, undergo marital problems, and temporarily lose some of his competitive drive after being lured into the fast lane of California celebrity life.

Then, on April 8, 1991, a little more than a year after retiring to become a trainer, Shoemaker was involved in a one-car accident that left him paralyzed frm the neck down. Shoemaker retired as a trainer in 1997 following Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet. He now works with the Paralysis Project, where he serves as honorary chairman. Bibliography: Shoemaker's Last Ride to Derby Glory | RealClearHistory now reading: Shoemaker's Last Ride to Derby Glory Shoemaker's Last Ride to Derby Glory Video: Global Warming Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit ... Good morning, it’s May 3. Saturday is Derby Day, and today is a date in history that should inspire all the baby boomers now entering middle age or on the precipice of retirement: On this day 1986, famed jockey Willie Shoemaker rode a horse named Ferdinand to victory in the Kentucky Derby. Already a Hall-of-Fame rider, “The Shoe” was 54 years old. His name was never Willie, although it seemed to fit because he was so small -- even for a jockey. Born on Aug.

19, 1931, in West Texas, he weighed less than 40 ounces and was only 10 ½ inches long. The family’s doctors weren’t sure he’d live through the night, but his parents named him Billie Lee Shoemaker and took him home. The boy lived, his parents divorced, and Bill moved with his father to Los Angeles. Like most jockeys, young Shoemaker was an exceptional athlete despite his diminutive size. He had strong hands, fast reflexes – and was fearless – traits that led him first to the boxing ring, where he won local championships in Golden Gloves competitions while fighting in the under-105-pound class, and later to the track. While mucking out stables on a California thoroughbred ranch as a teenager, Shoemaker saw his true calling. He began as an exercise rider at Northern California tracks and was given his first professional ride on March 19, 1949. He rode his first winner that April in a six-furlong claiming race at Golden Gate Fields aboard a chestnut filly named Shafter V. Asked many years later if he remembered the horse, he replied, “You bet I remember her.

I almost went into shock. … I think I got about $10.” There would be many more winners to come – 218 that year alone, and a stunning total of 8,833 before he retired. At 4-foot-11 and only 96 pounds, Shoemaker didn’t have to sweat to make weight like most riders, and those powerful hands he’d used in the boxing ring became legendary as he guided 1,500-pound thoroughbreds around tracks all over the world. Shoe was a fan favorite, partly because he eschewed the whip more than most, and partly because of his dignified nature. He won his first Derby aboard Swaps in 1955 and would have won his second two years later aboard Gallant Man if he’d not misjudged the finish line and stood up in the irons prematurely. He explained his mistake matter-of-factly (the finish line had been changed) and kept riding. In 1959, he misjudged the Derby finish again, but in a way that did not impact the race.

Late that spring, Shoe had had been riding Sword Dancer, the eventual Horse of the Year, but he had previously agreed to take the mount on a now-forgotten horse named Tommy Lee in the big race, and he kept his word. In the stretch of the Kentucky Derby, when it seemed that Sword Dancer was swooping by Tommy Lee, Shoemaker called out to fellow rider Bill Boland, “Good luck! I hope you win it.” But Shoemaker’s horse was game and held on for the victory. By the time he retired, Shoe would sit in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle four times, along with two Preakness winners – and five in the Belmont Stakes. His last Triple Crown victory came aboard 18-1 long shot Ferdinand on May 3, 1986. He had taken several nasty spills in his career by then and the reflexes were fading, but on this day 27 years ago he gave his horse a flawless ride, patiently guiding stretch-running Ferdinand through the pack until he saw an opening on the rail. He steered his horse through it and the big colt shot to the lead, winning by 2 ½ lengths. “What a feeling,” he proclaimed.

“I was half in shock.” He rode competitively for the last time on Feb. 3, 1990, at his home racing circuit in Southern California. Shoe was aboard 7-year-old Patchy Groundfog that afternoon in a one-mile turf race Santa Anita Park had billed as “The Legend's Last Ride.” The legend and his mount were the sentimental betting favorites of the big Santa Anita crowd that day, as well as eminent race caller Trevor Denman, who set aside his normal impartiality to call, “C’mon Shoe!” as the horse took the lead at the top of the stretch. Although Patchy Groundfog faded to finish fourth, Shoemaker was not the kind to just fade away. In retirement, he became a trainer, and was pursuing this vocation on April 8, 1991, while driving on a deserted stretch of highway. He had been drinking -- and was trying to place a call to his wife on his cell phone -- when he lost control of his Ford Bronco, which plunged down an embankment. The crash left Shoemaker paralyzed from the neck down. He resumed training horses in a supervisory role less than six months later, sharing his wisdom about horses from a wheelchair.

He retired from training on Nov. 3, 1997, having won $3.7 million in earnings, and died in his sleep at home in San Marino, Calif., on Oct. 12, 2003. Bill Shoemaker left us with the memories of his many remarkable rides, his consummate professionalism, and these inspiring words: “I never gave up,” he told writer Ron Flatter . “A few times I didn’t think I was going to make it. But I never quit.”

Question: What is the surname of the jockey with the first name Willy who won the Kentucky Derby four times?
Answer: Shoemaker